Ottawa bus crash happened on a rush hour trip, at a station with several routes

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson confirmed Friday that 23 people were injured and three people are dead after a bus crashed into a shelter at Westboro station in Ottawa on Friday.

The bus crash that killed three people and injured as many as 17 happened at Westboro bus station, a transit access point that accommodates several routes west of downtown Ottawa.

Located approximately six kilometres from Parliament Hill, Westboro is a thoroughfare for routes such as the 50 between Tunney’s Pasture and Lincoln Fields, and the 97 bus that takes commuters to the airport.

On Friday, it became the site of a fatal crash by a double-decker OC Transpo bus, which hit a shelter as it was travelling the 269 route on its way to Bridlewood, which is located in the suburb of Kanata, and just under 20 kilometres away from the station.

The 269 is a “connexion route”, operating during morning and evening rush hour, taking people between Mackenzie King station in the capital’s downtown and Pinehill/Stonehaven station in Kanata.